Don’t have a good study method? Maybe you’re making these mistakes

Do you think you have a good study method but can’t get the results you want? Perhaps you are making one (or more) of these errors

Are you bent over books for entire afternoons but don’t seem to get effective results? Perhaps your study method is not as good as you think or maybe you simply commit one of these errors without knowing it.

If so, just locate them and correct the route. Whether you are a school or university student, it does not matter: the results will come anyway!

Six Mistakes of Study Method

As promised, here are the most common mistakes made when studying. Do not be afraid if you realize you are committing more than someone: we assure you that you are in good company.

In summary: you have a bad study method if …

1) Reread the same text endlessly

Maybe someone told you that it’s the best way to memorize. Well, know that this is not the case. Rereading the same text as a mantra will only make you bored and lose your concentration after a short time.

2) Do not follow a timetable

This is especially true for those who are still at school. Studying a whole afternoon four or five subjects’ works only if a precise time is established for each one. Otherwise, you risk spending too much time on one subject at the expense of another. And above all, you don’t have time for yourself and your hobbies.

3) Repeat always and only in mind

Perhaps in this way you believe you are maintaining concentration, but the truth is that if you do not alternate repetition in mind with that out loud you cannot adequately fix the concepts, especially the more complex ones.

4) Do not make schemes or conceptual maps

Training visual memory is fundamental: the scheme and the conceptual map help you simplify concepts and summarize the fundamental parts. Of course, they must be done with policy.

5) Do not put away your cell phone while you study.

Maybe you do it to disconnect from time to time, maybe because you have a study group on WhatsApp, maybe just to have Internet available while you study. Whatever the motivation, it is certain that keeping the mobile at hand when you are on the books, distracts without ifs and buts.

6) Never rest

As it is not a good idea to always keep a distraction source beside you, it is not the same to keep your brain in constant training. Believing to be able to keep the concentration high for many hours is a utopia: breaks serve not only because they gratify, but because they allow you to “recharge your batteries” and continue with a new sprint.

Six Effective Study Method

After seeing the mistakes, let’s see what the elements that make a study method really effective are.

1) Make a roadmap

Give a limit to the time you decide to use for each subject and respect it: you will need it to stay focused and not waste time.

2) Make patterns and small summaries

Attention: we said little! Try to summarize the most complex concepts in a few lines, simplifying them as much as possible. Watch out for terminology.

3) Repeat the things to be memorized aloud better

You will not need to repeat everything, but only the essential things: definitions, dates, complex concepts.

4) Imagine having to explain what you study to those who don’t know anything about it.

How many times in repeating a particularly difficult concept did you realize that you were using the same words as the book, without really understanding them? An effective trick is to explain those concepts in your own way as if there were someone in front of you who needed extreme clarity to understand them. Can’t you invent an imaginary interlocutor? Call a friend, a younger brother or a parent: it will work.

5) Take a summary test

The best way to fix a concept is to test yourself in a closed book. This is why it is very important, at the end of the study, to check one’s own skills through the tests at the end of the chapter. Do not you believe it? Give it a try: try to answer the questions and check how many answers you get. We bet you need another review?

6) Take breaks

Eat, lie down, and close your eyes for a few minutes. You can’t expect your mind to remain active for too long, so reload it with a few moments of pause between one subject and another. And, most importantly, don’t give up your life and your passions entirely: the studio comes before the fun, of course, but a phone call with a friend, playing a sport, playing an instrument or taking a walk after having finished studying can only do you good. And it will make your duty lighter.